“We’re disappointed in how we started,” head coach Bill Ryden said. “We dug ourselves a hole that we couldn’t get out of. That pretty much sums it up. We came fighting, came back and each event kept getting better. When you dig that big of a hole at the beginning, it’s very hard to pull yourself out of it. We just didn’t do good gymnastics to pull ourselves out of that hole.”

The Wildcats began the night on bars. Despite a fall, Arizona earned a 49.550 to end the first rotation.

Freshman Selynna Felix-Terrazas led the Wildcats with a 9.800, tying her season best. Allie Flores followed with a 9.775. Gabby Laub and Krysten Howard earned scores of 9.650 and 9.750, respectively. In her lineup debut, senior Ali Stakem contributed a 9.575, despite a few difficulties in her routine.

“We had to make some switches on bars,” Ryden said. “We had a brand new bar lineup as well as have people make some errors that they don’t normally have. Bars puts us in a hole that we needed ASU to mess up to put us back in the meet and they didn’t. They had a great meet.”

In the second rotation, the Wildcats moved to vault. Arizona compiled a vault total of 48.850.

Shelby Edwards earned the highest score for the Wildcats with a 9.850 and also earned a second place tie. Kristin Klarenbach was back to form with an earned 9.800. Flores earned her second 9.775 of the meet and was followed by Shana Sangston contributing a 9.725. In her vault lineup debut, Felix-Terrazas rounded out Arizona scoring with a 9.700.

“Vault was okay,” Ryden said. “It was obvious that after watching ASU landings were going to be a premium. We only had one stuck landing. It wasn’t sharp gymnastics and it was unfortunate that we had a problem with our landings in such a big occasion. That certainly cost us.”

In the team’s third rotation, the Cats took the floor. Each counting score was above a 9.700, earning Arizona a floor score of 48.950.

Earning the highest score for Arizona was Klarenbach with a 9.850 and also tied for the first place finish. Amber Wobma finished her first routine of the night earning a 9.825 and earned a third place title. Felix-Terrazas earned her third straight counting score with a 9.775, and Flores earned a twin score of 9.775. Sangston added a score of 9.725 to the effort.

“Floor did okay,” Ryden said. “There were a couple of scores that I was confused about. They were lower than what we’re used to. But once again, it’s about landings. It was very easy to determine where our problems were and why they happened.”

Trailing ASU, 147.250-146.350, the Wildcats were determined to come back. However, despite a score of 49.000, the Wildcats were unable to recover from earlier mishaps.

Sangston led the beam team with a score of 9.825 and won the second place title. Her effort was followed by three scores of 9.800 by Wobma, Mills and Sisler. All three tied for the third place title. A score of 9.775 by Flores finished off the rotation for Arizona.

“The beam lineup came through,” Ryden said. “It was our best event, our best gymnastics by far. I give it up to them for trying their best to come back.”

Flores performed as the lone all-around gymnast and took the title with a score of 39.100.

Looking forward, Arizona will make their way home for a three-meet home stand in McKale Center. The Cats will take on Pac-12 foe UCLA on Saturday, March 1 at 4 p.m. MST. For continued coverage of Arizona Gymnastics, follow the team at facebook.com/ArizonaGymnastics and on Twitter @AZGymnastics.